Behind His Quiet Lies
by The Villain's Vindication
Summary: Bruce Banner is ready to leave once more when Tony gifts him with his vast array of advanced medical supplies to help the doctor in his self imposed mission. But, Ironman unknowingly gives him much more. Suicidal Themes, Brony
1. Backup Plan

Behind His Quiet Lies: Part One

By: Villain's Vindication

AN: I know neither of these two is a villain, so this veers off from my normal fairs of writing but I just couldn't help myself

* * *

Bruce paused in his packing when a friendly hand griped his shoulder from behind. "Running off to parts unknown Big Green?" The doctor forced a smile to his face and looked back at Tony, "trying to stop me Stark?"

Tony stepped back and put his hands up in mock defense, "no, I wouldn't do that. Besides, those people could really use a guy like you. You do good work Doctor."

Banner's smile became genuine as he returned to packing.

"...buuuut…," Tony chuckled at the quick glare sent his way, "I do hate to see you leave like this. You'll need supplies… real ones, not those rusted scraps you force yourself to work with. The third world isn't known for its abundance of gamma radiation research equipment. And hey, now you have a billionaire best-y who owns all the sterilized needles you could ever need."

Bruce's white knuckled grip on his bag relaxed. He still hadn't quite… bounced back from his last Hulking. The Other Guy was close to the surface, riling. And Tony had always been completely oblivious to the nature of his other half. The man's sarcastic, joking nature made his emotions swing around in ways they hadn't for awhile now.

The scientist always treated him like an ordinary friend. It was one thing he would never understand about Stark, that was for sure. Everyone else always had one hand on their gun and placating words ready on their lips when he was around.

Not that it would save them.

He shook his head at his dark turn of thought. That was why he had to get out of here and get knee deep in diphtheria patients. There he would have no time to remember how much he hated himself. Plus he had to atone for his innumerable murders by saving as many lives as he could. So Tony's suggestion was nothing if not reasonable. It would help him heal more people certainly. He sighed, reigning in his controls, "that would be great Stark."

Tony nodded and led Bruce down to his lab which now had an adjoining medical wing. "Take whatever you need Banner plus everything you don't. I'll go grab you another duffle so you can carry more."

"Sure, thanks Tony," the man turned back and winked at him before heading out the door, leaving Bruce alone to his devices. After grabbing all the basics, he began to carefully set vials of penicillin amongst his clothes when his eyes caught sight of a keypad reflected in the mirror. His curiosity got the best of him and he abandoned the medicines for the lock. There didn't look to be any door for the keypad to open, but it was simple enough to figure there was a door hidden somewhere nearby.

He looked back to the door Tony left through. It seemed terribly inhospitable to break into some hidden room of Ironman's, but really if he wanted it disguised he could have done much better than such an obvious lock. And he had told Bruce to help himself, hadn't he?

He knelt down so he was face level with the pad and began tinkering. He was no technology wiz like Stark, but he was a genius in his own right.

And he always loved a good puzzle.

* * *

"Hey Brucey I also picked you up a pair of shorts. They're some extra I had from the designs for the under armor for the suit. They're spandex too so they should… uhh…" Tony finally glanced over to see Bruce tap in the last two pass keys on the lock.

The wall next to it fell back and slid open, "uhh… that's supposed to be locked…" Tony trailed off.

Bruce felt a bit sheepish at getting caught. He hadn't actually expected to be able figure out the password. He laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head, "well it _was_ locked. What's in here anyways?" he couldn't help but lean back to look into the small room that he had opened.

It was packed to the nines with weapons.

Lethal weapons.

Well that was a surprise.

"I didn't expect any other super genius to ever be in here. Guess I have to Bruce-proof this house as well as Hulk-proof it," Stark pouted. He wasn't really upset, honestly he was impressed at how fast Banner cracked the lock.

They both stepped into the room. Guns, missiles, bombs and bullets of all sorts lined the walls. "I thought you gave up the warmongering business Stark," Bruce said with some disappointment.

"I have," Tony said completely serious. This is all I have left, one of every weapon Stark Industries was producing when I…" he trailed off heavily, reaching up and touching the missile in front of him, "…when I was captured."

"When you were betrayed? It was in all of the papers, even in India."

Tony just nodded, unable to look at anyone when his months of torture were motioned, much less his respected college. He was still ashamed of it all. He had been such a fool to trust Obadiah, even if he was closer to a real father to Tony than his actual father had been. He was supposed to be a genius for fucks sake. How could he have not know?

"Are they still live?" Bruce asked to change the subject. He hated to see such a despondent look on this friend's face. It was so out of place on Stark.

Tony was then able to look over at him, "yeah, not that I will ever use them. They're just here to remind me of all I'm fighting for, all I have to atone for."

Bruce blinked at that. The search for salvation from sins was one he knew intimately. The difference was Ironman's crimes were all in the past where as he knew, so long as he lived, his future would be filled with further deaths and regrets.

He admonished himself again for thinking of such things again. It seemed he couldn't help it these days. He had actually been doing fairly well, but with everything that happened with SHEILD and the Avengers… he could feel the slick blackness of depression spilling slowly over him once more. Telling everyone of his suicide attempt, only one of many… nearly as many as his failed attempts at cures, brought it all back to the front of his mind.

The weapons before him suddenly began whispering to him, tempting him. "What's this?" he asked, carefully picking up a small metal canister no bigger than his palm.

"Oh that's just a grenade. The army was always pushing me to make everything more compact. Smaller weapons mean cheaper manufacturing cost, cheaper shipping, and the soldiers are able to carry more or at least able to move better when less encumbered. And, of course, it made me more money. It was a win, win, win, win… I also made it much more efficient. That little thing is near equivalent to a hundred old fashioned grenades." He smiled ironically, "I really thought I was helping people with this stuff. I was such a child," he shook his head at the memory.

Bruce chuckled at that, "and now you're what? All grown up?" Tony joined him, laughing freely once more, "Well… I didn't say _that_."

The doctor used the small distraction to slip the keychain sized weapon into his own pocket. He knew he shouldn't. He _knew_, but he couldn't help himself. He rationalized that he would never use it, just keep it around as a perverse sort of comfort. Maybe just knowing that the option was there, that he _could_ if he wanted to…

It probably wouldn't even kill him anyways.

So there was no reason to feel guilty as he looked into Stark's laughing eyes.

None at all.

Really.


	2. Unstoppable

Behind His Quiet Lies: Part Two

By: Villain's Vindication

* * *

In all his traveling, Banner had treated many mutants. He had a certain fondness for them and they were always thankful and generous. He knew they didn't see much kindness in these prejudiced days. And everywhere he went they accepted him as a sort of adoptive mutant. The Hulk, Spiderman, and the Fantastic Four were brethren to the mutant cause. Their own genetic uniqueness might have come form fateful accidents, but the result was the same.

Currently Bruce was caring for a small family of mutants hiding out in Bolivia. They weren't family by blood of course, mutants so rarely were. But the people had ways of finding one another, building their own families where they knew they'd be safe. One of the little ones had contracted Chicken Pox a few days ago, and Bruce was living with them all until he was sure the girl would come out all right.

Mutants all reacted so differently to viruses so common to regular homo sapiens.

He owed them all as well. They had found him naked in the jungle, god knows how they did, but they brought him to their home and clothed and fed him. He had to tell them the truth about who he was then, but he was fairly sure by their lack of reaction that they had already suspected.

He was notorious in South America after all.

But they weren't going to throw him out for something he couldn't control. They understood what that was like well enough.

Thankfully even after Hulking Out, his backpack had stayed, dangling by a strap on his arm. So he still had some basic supplies, his Avengers communicator,... and the bomb. All of which he had secreted away from the family. The last thing on earth he needed was for some tiny fingers to touch something so dangerous.

The communicator had been Tony's final gift to him. SHIELD always monitored him, always knew where he was anyways, so having the tracker didn't bother him like it once would have.

Plus it was a direct line to Tony, something that had, surprisingly, been more of a comfort to him in these past months than the cold steel of the grenade.

He walked outside to its hiding place among the brush. It was probably about time he called Ironman. He had long since run out of supplies, and now he scarcely knew where he was. As much as he hated asking for help, the equipment Stark had loaned him had really made a big difference. He hadn't been aware before of how he was just barely scraping by. Up until then that's how he had always lived, so he never noticed.

He popped his back as he filled the communicator open. Long hours at the girl's bedside were taking their toll. Tony's face flickered into view almost immediately, "Hey it's Big Green! You alright man? I head you made a mess of Peru."

Bruce grimaced. He hadn't wanted to think about that. Here he was secluded away from the repercussions of his latest transformation. He'd been able, at least on the surface, to dodge any guilt. "Yeah... well what would you say to a vacation Stark? I'm on this real steamy property in Bolivia. The place is crawling with ladies. Why not join me with a new sack of supplies?"

He wasn't going to tell Stark that the 'ladies' were only fifteen and sixteen and six years old. He laughed in the back of his mind.

"You don't have to ask twice Banner. Honestly, I'd use any excuse to escape. Lately SHIELD's been wanting me to do _work_. How insane is that?," the man winked conspiratorially. Bruce smiled affectionately, he knew that really all the man did _was_ work, despite his lazy playboy reputation.

"And it'll be good to see you again Bruce. I've been missing that sexy brain of yours," the com clicked off before Bruce could think to reply. He blushed and shook his head in disbelief.

Tony's flirting would be the death of him.

* * *

"La Hermandad! Es la Hermandad! Ya están aquí!"

Bruce turned to look at the girls running out of the house towards him. Their panicked voices confused him.

Who was the Brotherhood?

The women ran behind him and he held out an arm to protect them as a group walked over casually. Bruce's eyes widened in fear as he took in the notorious mutant team. He didn't know the specifics, but any idiot could recognize Magneto when he saw him.

_Shit. Fuck. Cunt. Fucking Hell._

Tony was on his way and normally the thought would comfort him, but not now. Magneto could crush him with nothing more than a thought. And he couldn't call him to warn him, the class five mutant would rip the communicator from his hand before the first button was pressed.

_Fuck._

The Hulk's consciousnesses rippled below the surface. He was going to have to let loose if it came to a fight. None of the girls had any combative powers. They would be defenselessness.

Bruce took a deep breath that was released in a low growl, his eyes glowing bright green. He let his fear for the lives of the girls, for Tony, overwhelm him.

This was the part he hated most, even more than the aftermath, even more than seeing the destruction he unleashed on the world. Here, between one breath and the next, his emotions let the Hulk spill forth and they were one in the same.

It was this feeling that kept him up most nights.

The knowledge that, for all his distancing himself from the monster, for all his 'Other Guy' talk, he and the Hulk were actually the same person.

That it was really all his fault.

But then his mind fell into the blackness of the Hulk and he knew no more.

The Brotherhood paused as they watched the too skinny doctor become the nightmarish monster. Magneto had not prepared for this. His intelligence had only known of the mutants, not of any green friends of theirs. But his concern only lasted a moment as he sensed something even more dangerous in the scientists possession.

"Stark weaponry is a rare find theses days, Hulk," Magneto raised his hand and smirked, "but I can recognize his signature metal anywhere." His fingers barely twitched and the grenade flew out of the backpack past the Hulk's head. In a panic the creature's arm darted after it, grabbing it midair in his immobile grip.

But the grenade's pin continued on until it was clasped in Magneto's waiting hand.

Time slowed to a halt as Hulk looked at the ticking time bomb in his palm. He smiled tiredly. Well this had been in the cards all along hadn't it? This is what he brought the damned weapon for. He had planned to try a cure once more before using it, but the cure would have failed anyways, just like all the others. This way just accelerated his plans.

And that wasn't so bad.

He had to protect the girls though, so he looked back into their horrified eyes and gave them a wane smile. At least the Brotherhood would most likely just kidnap them. They weren't known for hurting their own kind after all. He the crouched down low and launched himself into the sky. He had to get as high as possible before the bomb exploded.

While he was soaring through the air, crashing through layers of clouds, the Hulk realized he wouldn't get far enough away fast enough. He had to dampen the explosion further somehow.

He had to use his own body.

* * *

"Sir there is a bogie at twelve o'clock," JARVIS's smooth voice reported inside Ironman's helmet. "Oh? Zoom in on it JARVIS. What is it? I thought we were in the middle of... nowhere..." Tony's voice drifted off in horror as the specks appeared in front of his eyes. The roaring in his ears made it so he couldn't even hear JARVIS replying that it appeared to be Bruce Banner. He could see that well enough.

The Hulk was flying in the air and warnings of all sorts had popped up red and flashing as his computer recognized one of his own creations.

The Omega Grenade.

And it was activated.

"Sir, I suggest immediate evasive maneuvers. We will be to close to the explosion when-"

"Shut up!" Tony screamed half out of his mind. Where the hell where that had come from? When did Bruce get it? What was he doing? How was he going to stop it? He _couldn't_ stop it. Oh god, HE COULDN'T STOP IT!

His visor zoomed in close on Hulk's face. Tony nearly vomited in the suit as he watched his friend _swallow the bomb_.

No.

And then there was only red and orange and noise and spinning and pain and-


	3. Broken

Behind His Quiet Lies: Part Three

By: Villain's Vindication

AN: Oh my god you guys, your reviews are making me SOOOOO HAPPY! Thank you!

* * *

JARVIS saved Tony's life.

Moments before the explosion reached Ironman, the computer sent out emergency signals to all the Avengers. It only took the rest of the team a few hours to arrive via supersonic jet.

Tony found it difficult to be grateful.

He sat in the Avenger's Tower infirmary sipping on his scotch. He stared unseeing out the large window. It had been days since the rescue and he had yet to say a word to anyone. They all took turns looking after him and currently Pepper and Natasha spoke to one another quietly in the corner. The two of them had gotten close during the Black Widow's stint as a spy in Stark Industries and their friendship continued to grow as Natasha spent more time in the tower. They were worried about Tony, everyone was. Physically he was fine, easily recovering from the few scrapes and burns he sustained.

But mentally, the man was clearly in another world.

None of them really knew what happened in Bolivia, so all they could figure is that something had triggered Tony's PTSD. There was nothing to do but let the man rest and come back to reality when he was ready.

_Why didn't you throw the grenade Banner? Why didn't you just throw it? You could have just thrown it. Why did you eat it? Why? Why didn't you throw the grenade Banner?_

He took another drink. They had tried to get him to eat or at least drink water, but the iced alcohol it only thing the Ironman would touch when it was handed to him. They let him have it as it was better than have him become dehydrated.

_You could have just thrown it._

At night, when they left him alone in the dark to sleep. He would slip off the bed and walk over to the weapons closet. He stood there until the morning rays of light, he would just stand and caress the empty hooks that once held the Omega Grenade. He hadn't noticed it missing because he almost never visited this room, and JARVIS hadn't thought to inform him as he had told Bruce he could take anything he wanted, so it wasn't as though the doctor had stolen it.

Tony had given it to him.

_Why?_

It was all his fault...

___Why didn't you just throw it?_

His closest friend next to Pepper and Rhodes...

_You could have just thrown it. _

There was no reason to keep these stupid things, and especially no reason why he didn't think to deactivate them. It would have been so easy to do. But instead, he just handed over one of the world's most destructive weapons to his troubled friend.

_What the fuck have I done?_

He finally snapped.

"AHHHHRRGGG!" he began screaming and tearing the weapons from the wall and threw them around the room in a fury. He didn't even know what he was doing until a pajama wearing Captain America and Black Widow pulled him away from the room. His fingernails bloody and broken from scratching at the metal.

"Stark, stop! Tony! You're going to blow this place up!"

But Tony just kept struggling and screaming.

The horrific sounds of grief had even Natasha crying.

"BRUUUUCE! BRUCE! WHY DIDN'T YOU THROW IT? JUST FUCKING THROW IT!"

* * *

Tony cracked his eyes open wincing at the brightness of the florescent lights above him. His brain was still foggy, so he figured they must have sedated him. He saw that the room was still a mess but the missiles were gone.

Thor approached him from where he had been sitting across the room, "Son of Stark it is good to see you awaken."

"Where?" Tony's voice cracked from disuse but the Asgardian understood nonetheless. "We had a meeting this morning and the team voted unanimously that it would be in your best interest to... be rid of the ammunition... I tossed them all into outer space earlier."

The inventor sighed and nodded. It probably was for the best.

Thor's look became a bit uncomfortable, "I have also been instructed to tell you... I do not think it wise to do so but..." he ran his hand through his hair, clearly conflicted. "I suggest you do nothing. You are... not well, but... they are now allowing visitors to see Doctor Banner."

Tony shot up out of bed, "I need to see-" but the sedative was still in his system and immediately he tripped and fell over. Thor quickly caught him, "what you _need_, Son of Stark, is to rest." He easily lifted the smaller man back onto the bed. "Seeing our friend will not ease your mind."

Thor sighed at the determined look Stark sent him, "alright, but you must wait out the course of the medication within you blood, and you need to bathe." Tony reached up and touched his oily hair. It had been a few days since he had a shower. He knew he couldn't get anywhere at the moment so he laid back down.

He was asleep again in moments.

Thor watched over his friend with pity in his eyes. The Midgardian was no soldier. It would be hard for him to accept what happened.

Especially when Stark saw what had become of their good friend.

* * *

The door stood like a monolith before him. Sure it was just like any other door in the hospital, but he found himself frozen before it. Tony Stark was dressed to the nines and he held the most expensive bunch of flowers he could find on the drive over.

The hospital staff had wanted to admit him when he arrived. Despite cleaning up, he looked like hell. But he brushed them off as always, whatever he looked like it would be no comparison to what lay behind this door. He couldn't get his hands to stop shaking, but eventually he managed to open the barrier and walk in.

Bruce lay on an extremely modified bed. There were structures and straps all over him to keep him in place. Grotesque burns covered most of his body so that all Tony could see besides miles of white gauze were the man's closed eyes.

Tubes and wires ran everywhere and into the doctor. Forcing him to breathe, forcing his heart to beat, making his body stay alive. Tony dropped heavily into the chair beside him. He knew what to expect but this... he was in shock.

Half of Bruce's lower jaw was simply _missing_.

Tony leaned over and put his face in his hands. Banner had been legitimately dead when the Avengers arrived, Tony knew. The team had rushed him to the nearest modern hospital where, by some miracle, the staff was able to revive him and get him stable enough for travel back to the U.S.

Bruce had really died.

Even now he wasn't exactly alive. He was in a coma so complete they wondered if he had any brain activity at all. Without the machines he wouldn't last a second.

"This is some kind of nightmare... wake up Brucey... please..."

The only response was the too slow beeping of the heart monitor.

"You fucking bitch. Wake up! Why did you do this?"

Beep... beep... beep... beep...

There had to be something he could do. He knew Pepper had already allocated funds for Banner's care and hired a team of private doctors. They had already started Bruce on low doses of gamma radiation in the hopes that it would help his cells tap into the Hulk's regenerative ability. But even with that, it would be a long long time before Bruce ever left this hospital.

If ever.

They would have to reconstruct the lower part of his face, put skin grafts all over his body, mend his broken bones, find donor organs to replace his failing ones, and after all of that he still might never wake up. Tony reached out tentatively and touched a bandaged hand.

Tony couldn't handle all this. What could he do to help? He wasn't any medical genius, but he had to do something, anything.

What would Bruce do?

Bruce would run away to help others. He was always thinking of everyone but himself.

It was a few days before Tony could pry himself from Bruce's bedside, but by then he knew what he had to do. He filled his jet with fuel and set off, not as Ironman or Anthony Stark, but just an average man. He hopped from Haiti to the Congo to the Middle East, not curing the sick because he couldn't do that. But, Tony built orphanages, dug wells, fixed schools, engineered primitive self sustaining power systems. He did whatever he could to help these less fortunate people.

And always, he returned to Bruce's side to tell him all about it.

No one really knew what he was doing when he disappeared for weeks on end. This was not going to turn into some Stark Industries publicity stunt. This was his own private penance.

War Machine took over Ironman's station in the city so his absence wouldn't be felt by the people there.

In the mean time, he lived in the tiny, dirty hovels at the comers of the world. It wasn't anything like his previous life as a well kept trilllionaire, and he was amazed at the incredible people he met. At night though, he would sit awake in his cot playing with a torn up deck of cards pretending Bruce was there using his perfect poker-face to win all of Tony's money.

The man was never far from Tony's mind.

Every time he returned, every time he hoped for a miracle.

_Maybe this time I've helped enough people, maybe now Bruce can finally wake up._

And every time, he left thinking he just had to help one more person.

Maybe just one more would be enough.


	4. Couple of Bachelors

Behind His Quiet Lies: Part Four

By: Villain's Vindication

* * *

"So Pepper dumped me last night," Tony sighed taking up his usual spot on Bruce's bed. "And I know what you would say: 'Tony you and Pepper break up every weekend.' So yeah, okay, that's technically true but this time I think it's different. Now don't give me that look. I am aware that I always say that, but this time I really mean it." Tony smiled softly at his friend, "I'm glad you're such a good listener. I have nearly five hundred numbers in my phone and at least six people living in my house, but somehow... the only one I want to talk to is you."

"He has that effect."

Tony turned to see a petite woman step through the door. "Who are you? A new doctor?"

She chuckled softly, "well I am a doctor but I'm more of the professor sort... I shouldn't be here, but I couldn't stay away any longer." She sat down and took up Bruce's other hand, "I'm Betty, his girlfriend... at least I was. Bruce made his decision long ago that he would suffer his affliction alone." She looked over at Tony suspiciously, "which makes me wonder why you're here."

Tony didn't like this Betty.

It had been nearly a year and only now she visits her _definitely_ _ex_-boyfriend? And the Hulk was not an "affliction." Tony frowned at her, "I'm his best friend. You know, Ironman? From the Avengers? You might have heard of us. We are the worlds mightiest heroes and all."

Betty's smile didn't reach her eyes, "of course." She brushed her annoyingly perfect fingers over Bruce's hair, "I heard he was attacked by mutants, but that's obviously just a cover. Do you know what happened, mister hero?" Tony glared at her and said nothing, but she didn't seem to notice. "At first I thought it was my father trying to kill him again. But nothing he ever threw at the Hulk ever hurt Robert more than he hurt himself."

"Your father's trying to murder him? Who's Robert?" Tony asked. She looked over at him, clearly exasperated, "best friend, huh? Bruce is his middle name. Robert is his first."

Tony _really_ didn't like this Betty.

She was making him realize just how little he actually knew about Banner. Every inane detail of Tony's life was publicized and analyzed in the tabloids. He had no secrets. But Bruce built his life by twisting words and with quiet lies. His secrets insured his survival, but they also isolated him from the world.

And lost in the darkness of his own mind, the man thought that swallowing a Stark grenade was a good idea.

"He did hurt himself. It wasn't the mutants," Betty nodded. It was just as she had guessed, not that it was hard to figure out when you knew Bruce. Anyone who cared to look could see his struggle. She smiled sadly down at the man she loved. It was also clear to her that she no longer belonged here. "I brought him a gift. Will you give it to him when he wakes up?" She handed a small box with a green bow over to Tony.

"Yeah, I'll be here. I'll give it to him."

She turned and left.

She didn't look back.

Tony looked at the empty doorway for some time trying to figure out what had just happened. "Looks like you just got dumped too Banner. I'll take an extra shot in your honor tonight before I head out to Chile. They had a massive earthquake there yesterday that could use my special brand of elbow grease to fix up."

"Hrrrrn..."

Tony's gaze snapped up to Bruce's face.

Where he met a pair of unnaturally green eyes.

"Uhh... guess they don't give comatose patients pain killers huh?" Tony fell out of his chair, forced back by the transformation.

"Hulk hurt!"

Tony scrambled to his feet as the Hulk broke loose from the leather bonds. His new jaw had been wired shut, but the Hulk pulled the wire free as if it was nothing more than floss. Tony laughed nervously, "so you can talk? Well why didn't you _say_ so before?"

Hulk leaned in and yelled in the Iron-less Man's face. Tony grimaced, apparently his humor wasn't appreciated at the moment. He pulled himself together and gave the Hulk a stern look, "Hulk stop it. I know you hurt, but if you stop trashing around and focus on healing yourself the hurt will go away!"

The Hulk growled softly, glaring at Tony for a moment before making a decision. He sat right down in front of the man, an act the shook the entire hospital. The creature looked at his hands for a moment, taking deep breaths to calm himself.

"Hulk... alive?"

Tony collapsed on the vacated bed in relief, "sure looks that way."

"...and Ironman okay?"

Something warm bloomed in Tony Stark's chest that he didn't want to identify, "yes I'm alright. I have you to thank for that." The Hulk surprised him by smiling a little. He was quiet as he really seemed to take Tony's words to heart and the scientist was amazed as he watched the larger marks of surgery and reconstruction fade from the Hulk's body. Sweat broke out on his brow as the healing took its toll on his weak body.

Alarms were echoing through the hallways and the last thing the Hulk needed was a bunch of doctors attempting to coral him. So Tony had to do his best to convince him, "hey Big Guy, time to change back okay? You're safe here and you need to finish healing. I'll stay with you and make sure you get all the fun drugs."

"Ironman stay?"

Tony smiled softly and rested a hand on one of Hulk's great shoulders, "yeah, Ironman stay." He felt the muscle beneath his palm relax and begin to shrink. He couldn't believe that had actually worked, but it was just as he always thought.

The Hulk was a good guy.

He was no monster.

Tony found himself with a lap full of unconscious scientist.

Naked, unconscious scientist.

Tony blushed but decided to ignore the strangeness of the situation. He pulled the pale man into his arms and held him close. With the threat brought on by the transformation gone, he could finally realize what it all meant.

Bruce had woken up.

He would be alright.

Tony buried his face in the man's hair as a hoard of guards and nurses burst loudly into the room. The floor and walls were cracked and instruments were destroyed, but for whatever reason the Hulk seemed to like him enough to listen. It could have been much worse.

And he was not crying.

He wasn't.

Really.


	5. Conversation

Behind His Quiet Lies: Part Five

By: Villain's Vindication

AN: If I continue on with the romantic side of their relationship as opposed to the bromance, I'm going to have to up the rating on the story due to sexy times. This is just a forewarning if you're not into that.

* * *

"You betrayed me. You took advantage of me. You took my weapon and fucking killed yourself! You went and made it my fault. And even after all the money I've sunk into your care, after all I've done to help you, I can still see it in your eyes that you wish you were dead. Is your life really so unlivable? We all have problems, hell, our stories could fill volumes. What makes you think you're so special? What makes you think you can just off yourself when we all care for you so much. I care so much. I'm so angry at you... and so sad.

I can see it in that fake ass smile of yours, in your eyes. Deeper than the green anger, deeper inside, that black abyss that has poisoned your mind.

I want nothing more than to shove my hand in your heart and tear out your darkness. I want to do something to really help you. But there is no armor that can protect you... there's nothing I can do... nothing... And I'm still so FUCKING ANGRY AT YOU!" Tony turned and threw his glass against the wall, shattering it.

"And I can't even tell you any of this or you might go out and hurt yourself again. I have no idea how to handle this... I can't handle this..." Tony's fists were clenched at his sides. He was strung out far beyond his means.

He had become accustomed to blabbing everything his mind could conjure at Bruce over the past year. But now that the man was awake, Tony had taken to talking to himself because he was so, ridiculously, afraid of talking to the doctor while conscious. Tony was an emotional hurricane while the doctor was the epitome of serenity. And Tony had spent all this time thinking about Bruce, getting closer to him, but for the doctor nothing had changed. What if it was weird, the casualness with which he spoke to Banner? Whar if he did or said something wrong?

What if he messed everything up?

There came a soft knock at the door, "Tony? Is everything alright? I heard you shouting from down the hall." The door slid open to admit Bruce. The doctor was undergoing intense physical therapy within the walls of Avenger Tower. He had argued against it of course. He didn't want the threat of the Hulk in such an important place, but Tony argued against him just as vehemently.

Stark was tired of not getting his way.

Eventually Bruce had to give in.

The man was weak, still confined to a wheelchair, still having a hard time speaking. He was so pale and rail thin from the long months confined to a bed. The radiation therapy hadn't done him many favors either. "Tony?"

"Uh, right it was just Dummy you know? Tried to fucking douse me again with the extinguisher just because there was some sparkage from the fuel lodge," Tony rushed to make something up.

Bruce raised an eyebrow at him while wheeling himself closer, "I thought you said you came down here to work on the flight stabilizers?"

"Right, I did, you see, but JARVIS got all snarky with me and I had to put him in his place because really he's just a computer-"

"You just said it was Dummy you were yelling at," Bruce said shaking his head.

"Dummy, right, just like I said."

"_Tony_," Bruce admonished, "everyone else is nervous and placating around me, walks on eggshells whenever I'm near... not you too. I thought... I thought you weren't like the others." Tony deflated at that. He knew he wasn't being fair to Bruce avoiding him and all the emotions he brought. "Of course I'm different. I'm Tony Stark," the physicist tried to smirk at the smaller man but the tired look on the other man's face made it whither on his lips.

"_Tony_."

"Alright, stop saying my name like that geeze. You know this isn't about the Hulk. I've never tiptoed around that, never saw a reason to, but..." he sighed running a hand through his already disheveled hair. "I just don't know what to say. Which is quite a feat you know. Many people would pay for a patented How To Shut Stark Up technique." That joke at least pulled a small smile out of Bruce.

"I'm sorry Stark. I know I've made a real mess of things." Bruce absently traced a jagged scars that crisscrossed the left side of his jaw. "Now I look like Frankenstein's monster even more than the Hulk."

"Don't be ridiculous, you're still the most adorable Avenger." Bruce flushed a bit at that, shifting awkwardly in his seat. The action brought Tony's attention to the man's thin wrist and the portable heart monoter wrapped around it. It was what that Betty woman had gifted Banner with. Apparently it was some sort of tradtion of theirs for her to replace it whenever he lost it by Hulking Out.

Tony didn't like the seething jealousy he felt when he looked at it.

"You know you really should let me design a better one of those for you. Could make it look just like a regular watch and have it place Black Sabbath instead of making that horrible generic beeping." The smile on Bruce's face grew, "better have it play elevator music. It's supposed to help me keep calm and in control, not rial me up." Bruce actually laughed at the horrified look on Tony's face at the suggestion.

"_Elevator music_? Now there's a torture that's certain to pull the Other Guy on his head, if only to destroy the thing." Bruce's laughter brought a flicker of light back in his dead eyes. Tony nearly teared up at the sight.

"Alright well I'll give you that one, Stark. I was actually coming down here to ask you were my pain meds had walked off too?" Tony tried to make his best innocent face, which only made Bruce laugh again. The doctor knew that drugs and alcohol were the least of Tony's self destructive behaviors.

Though they couldn't hold a candle to his own.

"When are you going to stop living as if you're a rock star, Stark?"

"When I stop _being_ a rock star, Banner."

Bruce rolled his eyes, and Tony was thankful that The Conversation had been successfully avoided once again. Maybe if the two of them pretended everything was normal long enough they'd both start believing it.

It was a better option than actually _facing_ their problems after all.

That was Thor's shtick anyways.

* * *

The team had been busy as ever even with the absence of Ironman and the Hulk. After Bruce had first arrived in the tower, the entire team came together to celebrate his release from the hospital. At the time, Bruce's jaw was still wired shut and Thor made some comment that it reminded him of something that happened once to his brother, but no one paid the Asgardian much attention as everything reminded him of Loki.

The two of them had lived as brothers for a thousand years, and Thor was still having trouble adjusting. They all were really, and when there wasn't some great threat the team never lasted too long together before they were back at eachother's throats.

So it only lasted about a week before they all went their separate ways once more. They all carried communicators of course in case anything planet threatening appeared.

This was both good and bad as it left Bruce and Tony more or less alone together in the tower.

Pepper had moved in with Rhodes, no real surprise there. The War Machine had taken his place in all the other ways. It was probably inevitable that his two oldest friends would eventually hook up. He hadn't been lying when he told Bruce's unresponsive form that their last break up had been something different. Tony knew he should have bee more upset about it, but all his emotions were invested in Bruce these days.

He was arriving at the inevitable conclusion that he actually _loved_ loved the doctor as more than just a fellow hero and science bro.

And he had no idea how to handle it.

Like everything else concerning the man.

It wasn't the fact that he was a man. Tony suspected that he was whore enough to sleep with a rock if it was arranged provocatively enough. But this wasn't at all about getting Banner into bed with him. He really cared about the man. Everything about him that should have been annoying just ended up being... well... _cute_. And Bruce was clearly oblivious about it all. The man thought he was a monster.

But Tony had yet to meet a challenge he couldn't overcome.

He just had to change Banner's mind.

* * *

"Tony do you think it's possible for you to go an entire day without trying to provoke the Hulk?" Banner's hands held his seat belt and the door handle in a death grip. Tony's drove a car like he was Ironman just flying low to the ground. And unlike Stark, Bruce wasn't used to trusting a thin layer of metal to protect him from certain death.

Tony took another turn at sixty and Banner turned green for a very different reason.

"Aww but he's just so fun to mess with!" Tony laughed over the blaring music. He was going stir crazy in his lab and he was sure Bruce felt ten times worse. So, he decided on an impromptu trip to Central Park.

Well, his intentions hadn't been entirely pure. Bruce was able to walk assisted for short distances now. And the thought of walking around the park with Banner clinging to his arm, leaning his weight against him, had motivated him to get out of the house ASAP.

The shy smile Bruce sent him as they stumbled together was worth everything.


	6. Mornings

Behind His Quiet Lies: Part Six

By: Villain's Vindication

* * *

Bruce woke up and immediately knew it wasn't a good day. He had a headache and his body was still exhausted from the physical exertion of walking around Central Park the night before. Bruce shuffled out of bed into his wheelchair, which he had come to hate as the representation of his failure, and wheeled into the kitchen, which he also hated.

Okay, maybe he didn't _hate_ the kitchen, but he sure felt like it right now.

He levered himself up into one of the bar stools that lined the counter, while attempting to keep his breathing even. He focused on the martial arts technique the fighter in Brazil taught him, but his heart rate had already skyrocketed to over 180 bpm. The news was playing on the plasma screen at the other end of the room. Currently they were reporting on the most resent disaster attributed to the mutant Magneto.

He _hated_ Magneto.

Coffee. He just needed coffee and then everything would be alright. Just get the coffee.

He reached across the counter to pour a cup from the already filled coffee maker.

And promptly spilled the hot drink everywhere.

"UGHHHHH!"

* * *

BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!

Tony folded his pillow over his ears and rolled over, "nooooo, five more minutes JARVIS?"

BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP!

"JARVIS?" Tony rolled back over towards the sound, finally realizing it wasn't his normal alarm.

A greenish Bruce stood in this doorway.

"Uhh..."

"You have to get out! Get OUT!" Bruce fell to his knees, his shirt ripping from his rapidly expanding muscles.

"What happened?"

"OUT!"

"You know this is my house Bruce. I can come and go as I please, and just because you've had a bad morning-"

"HULK SMASH!"

"What? No!" Tony scrambled out of bed in a frenzy as it fell into the newly renovated hole in the floor, "Hulk come _on_. This is my bedroom!" A vaguely guilty look flickered over the creatures green features. But Tony barely had time to see it before the Hulk was walking up towards him and _picking him up_.

"What? What are you- Hulk!" and Tony stark definitely did _not_ scream like a little girl as he was carried bridal style straight out his window and down forty stories. Tony had no idea where they were going, everything was moving so fast. Damn, he had never realized just how fast the Hulk was.

After some disorienting moments of leaping, crashing, and falling bricks, Tony found himself set upon his feet. His hair was wild from the ride, he was sure. And that, combined with the fact that he wore nothing more than his boxers and an open robe, plus the Hulk stood behind him, he was sure he was a sight to behold. Everyone in the street and in the restaurant in front of them froze with their mouths hanging wide open. The waitress standing by the window dropped the two mugs she held and they shattered on the floor.

"Hulk want coffee."

Tony blinked, "you can't be serious."

The Hulk crossed his arms and glared at Stark, making everyone else finally snap out of their shock at seeing the two Avengers at run off. "Coffee now."

Tony waddled into the Starbucks, the whole situation more than surreal. The man behind the counter was the only one who hadn't run off. And Tony was suitably impressed, "um... I guess I'll have a Trenta decaf coffee for the Big Guy and... hmn... I'll have a Tall Americano." The cashiers nodded slowly, his eyes wide enough to pop out of his skull, "sure dude. It's... uh... on the house." Tony was grateful since he didn't really have time to grab his wallet before liftoff as it were.

He waited to get the drinks and then brought them out to where the Hulk had sat taking up the entire sidewalk. A smile broke out on the Hulk's face when he handed him the massive coffee. Tony plopped down next to him on the cracked ground to drink his own but found that he couldn't due to the nearly hysterical laughter that was building in his chest.

He looked over at the Hulk easily downing the scalding liquid and couldn't hold it back any longer. Hulk stopped and looked at him as he laughed so hard he couldn't breathe.

Who would have ever guessed something like this could ever happen?

Nothing in his life would ever be dull with Banner around, and Tony found he didn't mind in the least. He hadn't had this much fun waking up so early in... well... ever.

"Good morning, Bruce," the robed man tilted his coffee towards the Hulk in a mock toast.

The Hulk just looked at him confusedly.

And Tony just kept laughing.

* * *

Bruce hadn't been so embarrassed in as long as he could remember. "I am _so_ sorry Tony." The doctor's face was bright red but the Other Guy wasn't under threat of returning after having his fun that morning. "I'll help you rebuild that floor I promise."

Tony was laughing again, "are you kidding? That was awesome! It might not be the way I want to begin _every_ morning, but a free roller coaster ride is welcome whenever you feel the need Brucey."

Bruce shook his head in disbelief and fell back into his wheelchair. Tony had somehow convinced the Other Guy to bring him back to the tower, so now they were back in the kitchen where the whole fiasco had started. Tony was cleaning up the spilled coffee from before. "How can you not be angry?"

Tony's laughing died down to a quiet smile, "what can I say? I just can't seem to ever stay mad at you."

Bruce bit his lip nervously, "you mean for everything? For all that mess before?" Tony nodded and threw the dripping wet towels in the garbage. He walked around the counter to Banner and ruffled the guy's hair, "of course I forgive you. Didn't I say that before?"

"You weren't really saying anything before," Bruce mumbled.

"Well I'm saying it now then.," Tony's hand slipped down to cup Bruce's scared cheek, pulling his chin up so that the doctor would meet his eyes. "I'm sorry too, about everything that happened. Please just... just promise you wont try anything like that again. I know it must be hard. It's not really something I understand, but you're strong Bruce. You're too strong to let something like that control you. So just promise me okay?"

Banner nodded, his blush still burning his face but now for a different reason, "yeah, I promise." They stayed like that for awhile just looking at one another. And Tony knew that, for once, Bruce was telling him the truth.

Bruce's breath stuttered across the inside of Tony's wrist and he realized he had been holding onto the other man's face much longer than was appropriate. But Bruce wasn't pushing him away...

Bruce cleared his throat and shifted away finally, clearly discomfited. He wasn't a complete idiot. He had noticed the smoldering looks Tony sent his way on occasion, but the other man was walking sex on legs so he hadn't thought much of it. But this was... this was... something.

It was _weird_. They were both guys weren't they? This isn't how male friendships were supposed to work.

They were supposed to be safe and normal and not cause his heart monitor to start going off again just because Tony touched his face. He swore he could even feel his hair turning red when he registered the familiar beeping sound. Tony was chuckling at him again. He knew he was being made fun of, but with Tony it was okay.

Everything was okay.

Weird, but okay.

* * *

AN: hope that wasn't too crackish, I just couldn't help myself ;-)


	7. Really Really

Behind His Quiet Lies: The End

By: Villain's Vindication

AN: lemon warning

* * *

"So, is there a reason we're making your suit fully outer space capable?" Bruce asked while screwing together two new plates of armor.

"It's elementary dear Watson. I... want to fly around space!"

Bruce turned to the side to face Tony, "that's it?"

"Well, I'm sure there's some other very very important reason. I just haven't thought it up yet. Less talking, more screwing! ...Wait that came out wrong... or did it?" Tony waggled his eyebrows at Bruce and the doctor laughed. Bruce went back to his work but Tony didn't miss the wince Bruce did his best to hide.

"Are you alright?" he asked putting down the chest plate in his hands. Bruce sighed heavily and rubbed at his neck, "I'm fine, just really sore. They were ruthless with me today in therapy. I think they've gotten brave after working with me all this time without any... accidents happening."

"I could give you a massage. I've been told I'm good with my hands," Tony smirked suggestivly at him. He too had gotten braver around Bruce. The doctor hadn't yet rebuffed any of his flirtations, and to Tony that signaled he was free to say as he pleased.

Bruce chuckled through his grimace. He was clearly in pain, "you know if you weren't joking I'd actually take you up on that offer. It is, after all, your fault I don't have any more pain killers."

Tony literally jumped up at the opportunity, "I wasn't joking Banner," he grabbed the other man's hand and pulled him from the room before he could protest.

When they had made it to the living room, Tony turned around and saw Bruce's face was flaming, "I-I-I-I don't think-"

"Wonderful suggestion, you just lie down and don't think. I'll take care of you."

"B-B-But..."

The smile fell from Tony's face. Even after all the time they spent together, how comfortable they had become with one another, Tony knew he had to tread lightly. "Do you not trust me?"

"Don't be ridiculous-"

"Well then what is it?"

Bruce looked down at the ground and shifted from foot to foot, "it's... been a long time since anyone's..." he didn't seem able to finish.

"Since anyone's touched you?"

Bruce nodded, embarrassed. Tony stepped closer to him, "but surely those doctors have had to for your therapy right?"

"Well yeah, but this is _you_ and its clearly different and I haven't... I don't... you're..."

Tony deflated, he could see where this was headed. Maybe he had misread this _thing_ that had grown between them. "I won't do anything gay Banner. I didn't know that bothered you. You're in pain and, as your friend, I just want to help you."

Pain of a different sort came over Bruce's face, "Tony I know that. I just said I trusted you didn't I? I'm not homophobic... I'm just... I'm not..."

Tony smiled but it didn't reach his eyes, "hey, no I get it. It's alright. Still want me to help you out?"

Bruce blushed and picked at the buttons of his shirt, "yeah, if you want to."

Tony said nothing but reached up and batted Banner's fidgeting hands away before unbuttoning his shirt. He carefully slid it from the man's shoulders, "just lay down," he whispered. Bruce swallowed loudly and made his way over to the couch, laying down in the cushions. Tony was careful not to touch him with his legs as he straddled the man's back. So many of his dreams had started out exactly like this, even while asleep his mind knew he couldn't just pounce on Bruce like he would anyone else. With the doctor everything would have to be cautious, slow, gentle, everything Tony normally avoided in seduction.

But, for Bruce he could do it.

Or at least he could have done it, the man had just, very clearly, made that line of thinking off limits.

"You don't have to do this Tony," Bruce's muffled voice came from below him.

"It's either me or Dummy. I can go get him if you want?" That thankfully pulled a chuckle out of the highly strung doctor, "no don't do that."

"Just trust me Banner," Tony gently placed both his hands in Bruce's hair, trailing his fingers through it and began massaging. He worked down his neck, pressing his thumbs down along the top of his spine and back up to his hair line. He moved one hand to hold down Banner's sholder and pushed his neck slightly to one side, earning himself a nice crack from the bone as the tense muscles began to give way.

"Hnnnn."

"Feel good?"

"Gmmhhh."

Tony chuckled and did the same to the other side, getting a lesser pop. He lightly traced the faint forms of muscles in Bruce's shoulders before baring down a bit and kneading them. It was a real wonder, the difference between Bruce's slight, unassuming form and the form of the Hulk. Bruce was so soft, and the longer Tony thought about it the... harder he became. He shifted a bit around the discomfort.

_Off limits, remember?_

His body didn't want to listen.

Tony's hands worked over the top of Bruce's arms before moving down his back along his spine. He couldn't help himself from dragging his nails down the curve of his lower back. Bruce made a sound and squirmed in such a way that made it really _hard_ to continue the whole 'friendly massage' bit. He flared his hands across the small of Bruce's back and worked the muscle until he couldn't take Bruce's tiny moans any longer.

Tony sat back, huffing a breath out to mess with the hair that had fallen into his eyes. This was pure torture it was.

He was keeping an ear open to listen for any warning noises from Bruce's heart monitor, but apparently he was doing a good job a relaxing the doctor. He ran his hands lightly up and down Bruce's sides, teasing. The man beneath him seemed comfortable enough. And Tony knew he had promised to behave but really, when did he ever follow the rules?

He let his trailing hands move further around Bruce's torso, dipping just the scantest bit beneath to the hem of his pants, tracing the man's prominent hipbones in the front.

"Tony?"

The inventor started a bit at the sound of his name. He hadn't noticed that he had leaned in close to Banner's neck so that his hot breath crept over the smaller man's skin. Tony noticed the goose-flesh that had prickled up along the tops of his shoulders.

"You smell so good Brucey," Tony was surprised by his own breathless voice.

"_Tony_ don't-"

"What are you so afraid of?" Tony asked exasperatedly.

"Everything, okay? I'm scared of everything," Tony's heart broke a bit at the sound of Bruce's voice. He man really was scared, but then Tony remembered the calm beat of Banner's heart monitor and made his decision.

"Turn around," he whispered directly into Bruce's ear.

"That is _so_ not happening-"

"Please?" Tony knew he was close to begging but he couldn't help himself. His hand was absently stroking Bruce's right hip, his fingers playing just out of reach of where he really wanted to touch. He was already nearly panting from the restraint of holding back.

Bruce looked back over his shoulder and saw the glazed look in Tony's dilated eyes, the barely there flush on the other man's face.

Mother of god, Tony Stark was hot.

Bruce was terribly embarrassed because his body had liked what Tony had been doing a little too much. But he gave into the look, and turned around within the cage of Tony's arms. But he still brought a hand up to press against the man's chest, "Tony we really shouldn't... we can't... What if this ruins our friendship? What if the Other Guy comes out? How can you even want this with someone like me? You could have anyone in the world, Tony, _anyone_. And, if my heart rate gets to high-"

"What did I tell you Brucey?" Tony's voice was deep and heady with want, "I told you not to think. You think too much about everything." Tony unhooked the man's heart monitor and flung it away, "just forget about all that nonsense and let yourself feel something for once in your goddamn life."

Bruce swallowed hard but couldn't get a word in edgewise before Tony leaned in a nipped at a tendon in his neck. Bruce couldn't hold back the whimper pulled forth from the action. Bruce let his hands drift to Tony's shoulders and his nails sank into the man's t-shirt as Tony's biting turned into suckling and Bruce was sure the man was really about to _eat_ him.

And he was going to _let_ him.

Dammit this was _such_ a bad idea.

Tony pulled away to catch Bruce's gaze, "I'll do whatever you want... anything Bruce. Anything you want."

"Anything?" Bruce didn't know what to think, for the first time ever he _couldn't_ think, "but I don't know what to do."

Tony absolutely growled at that admission. He gripped Bruce's hips and pressed his aching length against the smaller man's and ground them together. Even through the barrier of their clothes they could _feel_ each other.

"Fuck! Ah!" Bruce arched at the contact. His head fell back into the couch cushions, exposing his neck to further abuse from Tony. The metal Avenger wasted no time in taking up the opportunity, nipping along the other side of Banner's neck. He continued kissing lower, regrettably having to pull his hips away in order to reach. He traveled carefully across Bruce's chest, laying a special kiss over the man's fluttering heart.

He continued on until he was nipping at Bruce's hipbone, trying and failing to distract the man while he popped open the button on his pants.

"Tony, what...?" Bruce panted out, moving his grip to Tony's hair.

"I wanna _taste you Bruce_."

"Oh my god," the doctor nearly came before Tony even got the chance. The man's voice was pure sin, and what he was suggesting... it had been so damn long since... "ohmygod..."

He could feel Tony's smirk against the hollow of his hip. He was probably giving the man an ego trip but he didn't care. Tony had barely touched him but he was so _good_. Bruce gasped as the restriction of his boxers and pants were inched away and he was freed.

But he wasn't left out in the air for long.

"Shit!" Bruce thought he might have ripped out a chunk of Tony's hair just then but the other man seemed unperturbed as he swallowed him all the way down to the root. Bruce had done fairly well at keeping his heart rate down, dispute losing all other ability to control himself, but now he could feel it nearly thundering out of his chest. Green crept into the edges of his vision.

"Tony... Tony, I'll change. You have to stop. I can't do this." God, he hated that he had to say that.

Tony pulled back up with an obscene sound and licked his lips provocatively, "so? If the Big Guy wants to come out and play that'll just make this all the more... interesting." Tony smirked and kept eye contact as he went back down, taking Bruce's cock down his throat.

And _finally_ Bruce was completely overwhelmed. What Tony was saying, it just brought forth imagery of the inventor's mouth stretched impossibly wide around the Hulk and a great number of other possibilities that Bruce had _never_ considered possible before.

Tony worked on him passionately. He swallowed around the length in his throat and hummed and then Bruce's vision whited out as he came, shuttering in Tony's grip. His whole body fell limp, sinking into the couch.

"You make... like... the best noises ever," Tony said in a gravely voice from his abused throat. Bruce looked down at him and saw Tony licking the corner of his lips where... "oh my god, did you just swallow that?"

Tony's smirk was positively evil, curling up at the ends, "I might have done." Even as spent as he was, Bruce's cock twitched at that. Tony crawled up over his body to look directly into Bruce's eyes with a gaze that set his skin on fire.

Bruce had a fleeting thought that he might have just unleashed the devil upon himself.

"So... it was good? Even if I am a man?" Bruce blinked at him uncomprehending for a moment. There was just no way Anthony Stark was insecure about his performance in bed. A nearly painful amount of affection flowed into Bruce's heart at the thought that it might just be with him that he's worried about it.

"You're perfect Anthony."

Tony smiled in honest relief and moved in to kiss him delicately, and wasn't this all backwards too? This was their first kiss and it was after he had... And he could taste himself on Tony's tongue, and it was...

Tony kissed him again and again and again, all the while cradling his face in his palms like he was the most precious thing in the world. Tears pricked at the comers of Bruce's eyes as thought inevitably crept back in.

"This will never work Tony. We'll end up hurting each other."

"Probably," Tony hardly paused in his worship of Bruce's face. Kissing his temples before moving back to claim him mouth.

Bruce pulled away slightly, "and you know I'm not one for sticking around."

"I know," Tony looked at him seriously, "and you know I have a real hard time being monogamous."

"Yeah, I know," they looked at one another for a moment but the couldn't keep their hands off one another for long. They had opened the proverbial Pandora's Box. Bruce found a bit of bravery and reached down between them to Tony's neglected hardness. Tony groaned, "but you'll always come back to me right?"

Bruce nodded enthusiastically, "yeah, I can do that... as long as you always make me first in your heart." Tony smiled at the surprisingly romantic notion, "I think I can do that, Brucey."

"Then," Bruce gasped as Tony returned to biting his neck, "then we'll be okay?"

"Yeah... I think we will."

It was both just that complicated and that simple.

They were both in to deep to go back now.

And neither of them would change a thing.

Not one.

Really.


	8. Healed

Behind His Quiet Lies: Epilogue

By: The Villain's Vindication

* * *

After long hours of thorough research and contemplation, Bruce had come to the conclusion that he must just be gay for Stark. He definitely wasn't interested in any other men, and before Tony he had only had eyes for women. His heart gave a painful twist at the thought of Betty, she would always have a special place in his heart. He still wore the same brand of heart monitors though it was now more out of practicality than sentiment.

It had been about half a year since he and Tony had made something more of their relationship. Things had been rough at times, but Bruce found that, for the first time, he was happy. So it was worth it when he was forced to endure the most embarrassing questions from his fellow teammates like: "have you two... you know... while you're in Hulk form before?"

Thankfully, no one said he had to answer said questions.

Because he _so_ wasn't.

They hadn't been able to keep their relationship secret for very long, unconventional as it was. Especially now since the Hulk protected Ironman like a mother hen during the Avengers' battles. Once the creature went so far as to trap Ironman in his right arm for the entirety of a fight, not letting the metal Avenger join in the danger at all.

Bruce stepped out of the elevator into the residential floor of the tower. He was just returning from Canada. Not one of his more dangerous haunts, but he really loved the country. With the vast expanses of icy tundra, he could set free his controls on the Hulk and allow the creature to come and go as he pleased.

Bruce threw down his duffle on the couch and walked into the kitchen. He was starving, but upon opening the cabinets all he found were rows and rows of Lucky Charms. He shook his head, really he didn't know why he was surprised. Apparently Tony was on another one of his binges. Bruce pulled out the one open box and a bowl. He didn't pay much attention when he first poured the cereal but when adding the milk he noticed that ALL of the marshmallows were gone.

He actually began laughing at that. Tony was really something else.

Bruce walked quietly by Tony's open door and peered inside while munching on his cereal. Tony lay on his back snoring softly with another woman _and_ a man sharing his messy bed. Bruce smiled with affection. He never begrudged Tony his affairs; he knew they were nothing more than entertainment for the Ironman. "Lucky bastard," he mumbled, walking on to the lab.

"Hey JARVIS, I guess you need to call Pepper about coming to 'take out the trash' again." The computers voice was soft when he replied, "I believe Miss Pots informed me after the last incident that such was now your duty to take care of." Bruce rolled his eyes, "alright."

The door to the labs whisked open and what Bruce saw inside made his spoon drop to the floor.

"Dr. Richards?"

Mr. Fantastic himself stood in the middle of the lab handling what was clearly a piece of the Ironman suit. Bruce could handle a couple of floozies in the bedroom, but the labs were supposed to be private and the suit _especially_ so. The only people who were _supposed_ to have access were Pepper, Rhodes, Tony, and himself. Not Mr. Fucking Fantastic, genius among geniuses.

Jealousy coiled in Bruce's stomach. He set down his breakfast, put off his apatite.

Reeds looked up when he heard his name and stood up in surprise, walking over to greet Bruce. "Dr. Banner! It's an honor to finally meet you. I've been riveted by your most recently published works, I have to say." Bruce forced an incredibly false smile to his face.

"Have you? That's too kind. I don't mean to be rude but um... what are you doing here? I haven't-"

"BIG GREEN! You're home!" the doctor turned just enough to see his inevitable doom running towards him. The two of them were knocked to the ground from the force of Tony's enthusiastic hug. Bruce smiled at the man crushing him, Tony was clearly only half awake. It was far to early for the rock star to be up.

"Good morning Tony," Bruce chuckled. The inventor beamed at the greeting but looked about to falls back asleep on his chest. "Why do you have to be awake so goddamn early all the time?"

"Because some of us actually work for a living Mr. Stark," came the voice from above them. Bruce pushed himself to his feet and pulled Tony up as well. He still wanted some answers.

Tony just teetered where he stood and pouted.

"It _is_ fairly early Dr. Richards," Bruce looked pointedly at the other superhero. Reed easily picked up on the unfriendly tone of his voice, "I'm just here to help with finalizing the Astronaut Ironman project. You know Stark is almost useless with theoretical work, and he's already nearly died from trying to make a visit to the moon before finishing all the calculations."

"You WHAT?" Bruce turned back to see Tony trying guiltily to sneak out of the lab. The inventor scratched the back of his head, "aww, I wasn't in any real danger. I just fell for a little ways."

"He fell through three layers of the atmosphere."

Bruce's glare flared green and Tony laughed nervously, "but I'm fine! I'm fine. Right Reed?"

"I suppose..." Richards turned back to talk to Bruce, "so SHIELD brought me in on the project before Stark killed himself just for some fun." Banner sighed, he still couldn't let go of the jealousy he felt, unfounded as it was.

"Actually, I have something I'd like to discuss with you as well Dr. Banner."

The doctor was surprised and, from the look on Tony's face, the other man knew nothing about this either.

"You know I'm always working on a cure for Ben, the Thing, and it lead to a breakthrough concerning your own situation. The radiation events might have been very different, but the math is essentially the same, simpler even in your case since the radiation was man made. There still isn't anything to help Ben unfortunately, but we did make this serum that should work for you. We have a cure, Dr. Banner."

Tony was fully awake now. This was... great, right? He couldn't tell from Bruce's poker face.

Banner only paused for a moment before deciding, "I don't want it."

"What?" "No way?" the two voices came at him in disbelief.

Bruce blushed a bit at their incredulous stares. He looked over to Tony with s tiny smile, "yeah... you see there's this guy who's taught me that the Hulk has a place in this world, can do some real good. That I'm fine just the way I am. If you had approached me a year ago I would have taken you up on the offer in a second, but I'm happy with things they way there are now. Thank you though, Doctor."

Richards nodded, he seemed a bit impressed.

Tony's jaw was hanging open.

"Do you mean it?" he asked Bruce almost reverently, "because I remember... you once told me that you couldn't think of one single thing that made you happy."

Bruce's smile widened, "I mean it."

Tony looked sideways at Reed, "Dr. Richards? You have five seconds to get out. I'm about to fuck the life out of Dr. Banner."

Bruce's face went up in flames, a now familiar state around Stark. It took only a second for Mr. Fantastic to slip out the door. He heard it lock behind the other scientist.

"What was it that I s-said?" he stuttered backing away from the man stalking him. He back hit the edge of the cold metal table and then Tony was upon him.

"Are you kidding? You just refused what was most likely a sure fire cure for the Hulk. It's what you've worked towards your whole life, but now, because of me, none of that matters to you anymore?" Bruce bit his lip, unable to say anything. Tony leaned in a whispered hotly in his ear, "I'm so hot for you right now."

Bruce gasped as teeth quickly followed the words and Tony nipped his ear. "Umm... ahh... okay well- hngg -why don't you suit up then, Stark?"

A gleeful look took over Tony's face, "oh _hell_ yes." He turned and vaulted over the table accross the room to where his Ironman suits were kept. Bruce wriggled out of his shirt while he waited for Tony to suit up, which he did in record time. The suit looked nearly identical to his normal suit but it was their own modified GR-33N model. The man literally rocketed back over into Bruce's arms, stealing his lips in an intense kiss.

He pulled back enough to flick his head forward, bringing down the final piece of Ironman into place over his face. Bruce's panting doubled over as he watched the erry blue glow light up the nearly evil looking eye slits.

Tony _loved_ it when Bruce was feeling kinky.

"Give it to me Ironman," the quiet doctor growled.

"Oh _hell_ yes."

-The End

* * *

AN: Thanks for reading and reviewing everyone! This whole Brony community of reader/writers is awesome, and I had a lot of fun writing this over the past week. If anyone has any further ideas for the pairing, let me know in the comments. you never know when I'll get bored and write another of these. ^.^

-Vindication


End file.
